Salt Air Diamonds Quilt

Hi, Kristy back again with another quilt. When will my brain stop coming up with quilt designs that refuse to let go? Hopefully not for a long time!

This design was inspired by my imperfect memory of the ceiling thatching on the roof of a holiday villa in Bali I was lucky enough to enjoy with three of my best friends for our combined 30th birthdays last year. When I saw the Salt Air fabric I knew the colours would fit perfectly with such a beachy memory. To make it even better there are no ‘Y’ seams because it is all constructed from 60-degree triangles!

1 jelly roll Salt Air by Cosmo Cricket

3 yards solid 9900 42 for sashing, setting triangles and binding

4 yards 37021 11 for backing

60-degree ruler

Constructing the Triangles

1.Sort your strips into groups of four of similar colours. If using the Salt Air collection, the colours do not divide evenly but sets of similar colours can be achieved (so there is not one strip in a set that stands out)

2.Sew the strips together so you have 10 sets each made up of four strips. This can get a little tiring so I did one or two sets at a time and cut the triangles (see the next step) before moving on to the set strip set.

Tip: When sewing pick one end to start with i.e. – the printed selvedge or other end and match these to ensure only one uneven end. I usually match the unprinted end. This will ensure you have a strip long enough to cut the required triangles.

3.Press the seams to the side (or open depending on your preference – I just always do mine to the side). I found this worked better when I pressed each seam after sewing rather than when the set was together – it is easier to get the seam flat and this will be important for a good finish later.

4.When you have a completed and pressed strip, set cut your 60 degree triangles. At this stage your strip set will be 9” wide. My ruler is 8.5” high so I will need to cut a bit off the blunt top when cutting the triangles. Alternate the orientation of the ruler for each triangle {positioning the wide base flush with the top or bottom of the strip set}. You should get 8 from each strip set.

Note: My 60-degree ruler has only one blunt tip as it was made for a particular pattern. Others I have seen on the market are exactly the same but have 3 blunt tips. Construction will be the same no matter what brand of ruler you use, cut off the extra dog ears at this stage or not; do whatever suits you.

5.Set aside your triangle sets, separated into groups according to the strip set they were cut from.

Cutting and assembling the sashing

1.From the solid, cut 25 strips 1” wide and cross cut into 10.5” strips (units will be 1”x10.5”)I I cut my strips 5″x WOF and then cut the 1″ strip from the 5″ units. I found this a better way to ensure an accurate cut along the grain.

2.Take one set of triangles. Half your triangles should have the apex at the top and half should have the wide base at the top. Maintaining this orientation sew a 1″ strip to the right hand side of all triangles. Press seam.

When the triangles are oriented to form the diamonds the sashing strips will be on the right.

3.Trim the excess strips. I lined my ruler up with the wide base and trimmed the bottom of the strip, re-oriened the ruler and lined up with the un-sashed side and trimmed the overlap at the top.

4.Repeat until all triangles have one sashing strip attached.

Cutting and sashing the border triangles

1.Cut 3 strips 8.5” wide (or the height of your ruler if it is different to mine)

2.From these strips cut 10 full triangles and 8 half triangles

3.Cut the full triangles in the same way you cut the strippy ones.

4.To cut the half triangles find the centre of your ruler (mine is marked) and find ¼” to the side of that (this is marked on mine as well). Place this 1/4” mark on the edge of your fabric and cut.

5.Sew a sashing strip to 8 of the half triangles and all of the full triangles. Trim as you did for the strippy triangles. You will need to cut another 8 triangles for the right had side of the quilt. to do this trace a half triangle from your ruler into paper and draw a line 1/2″ beyond the RHS. Use this as a template to cut the triangles for the right had side of the quilt. You will not need to add sashing strips to these ones.

Y Assembling the quilt top.

1.Lay all your triangles out on your design wall or floor, matching triangles from strip sets to form diamonds. Aim for a good spread of the colours. See how the sashing strips are forming the lattice?

Take a picture!

Unfortunately mine has gone missing!

2.I toyed with the idea of sewing the rows together in an ‘on point’ arrangement but I think horizontal rows will work best.

3.Working one row at a time, pair the triangles and pin (I really think this will help on this one) 1+2, 3+4 … 11+12 (you will have one at the end of the row left over). When pinning, make sure the points extend about 1/4″ beyond as pictured. This will ensure your rows end up straight.

5.Chain piece the two triangle sets then pair again and again until you have a row. Sew on the last triangle. Compare to your picture!

6.Press seams towards the ‘peak’ triangles

7.Repeat with the remaining rows.

8.To join rows pin together. If you pressed the seams to the side when sewing the triangles into the rows they will nest at the points where they meet and form a ‘V’ at the raw edges when you are pinning.

Quilt top done!

Basting, Quilting and Binding

1.You will need to cut and piece the fabric for the back to ensure it is large enough. I cut carefully to make the print matched up and left a continuous print – but there will be one stripe missing.

2.Baste your quilt – I use pins but use whatever method you are comfortable with.

3.Quilt as desired – I quilted with a row of stitching down the centre of the sashing strips, through the diamonds to create a secondary diamond grip and echo quilted in the border diamonds with stitches 1” apart.

4.Bind – I used 7-8 strips cut 2.5” on the straight of grain. If you prefer bias strips you will likely need to adjust the fabric amounts listed in the ingredients.

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The individual designers featured on this website ultimately hold the copyright for their projects and designs posted on the Moda Bake Shop. Patterns are not intended for sale or digital distribution. All items made from Moda Bake Shop patterns are for personal, non-commercial use only, unless given explicit written permission from the design owner to sell finished products made from their pattern tutorials featured on the Moda Bake Shop.